Drugs found in adult bathroom at Brockton elementary school

Tuesday

Mar 18, 2014 at 6:00 AM

The Brockton School Department is working with police after a schools employee found a white powdery substance believed to be drugs in a second-floor adult bathroom at the Arnone Elementary School, officials said.

BROCKTON – The School Department found remnants of a white-powdery drug last week in an adult bathroom at the Arnone Elementary School, spurring an investigation by the city and its police department, city officials confirmed Monday.Trace amounts of the substance were found Thursday in a bathroom not accessible to students, said School Superintendent Kathleen Smith.

Parents and school staff were notified, she said, and the investigation ended Friday afternoon. Smith declined to discuss the outcome, wouldn’t identify the drug, and wouldn’t identify its source. Smith also wouldn’t say whether anyone working at the school was linked to the drugs.

“I just can’t get into that right now,” Smith said. “We’re working still with law enforcement and school counselors to address this. It’s unnerving.”

The discovery comes as the city continues to deal with an epidemic of drug addiction and overdoses. Several have died in the past few weeks, and the city has fought back by holding forums and equipping its first responders with the anti-overdose inhalant nalaxone.

No arrests had been made by Monday in the Arnone incident, and none are expected officials said. When asked whether a school employee had been placed on administrative leave as a result of the investigation, Smith said she could not answer.

About 6 p.m. Thursday, parents received an automated telephone message from Arnone Principal Colleen Proudler about the incident, Smith said.

In her message, Proudler told parents she called school police after a staff member alerted her about “something that looked suspicious in a second floor bathroom.”

“Steps being are being taken by the School Department and local law enforcement to ensure the safety and security of students and staff,” Proudler said in her message. “I want to assure that the students were not at-risk: this is an area restricted to adults only. Students do not have access to it, but they almost certainly saw the officers in our building.”

Mayor Bill Carpenter, who serves as chairman of the Brockton School Committee, said Monday he does not believe criminal charges would be filed in the case. He said school official and school police were working closely on the matter.

“I believe they’ve identified the person it belonged to, and I believe that they’re satisfied that that person will not be returning to school property,” Carpenter said. “I don’t believe there’s any criminal charges being filed. They’ve completed an investigation. They’ve ensured the fact that the person won’t be returning to the school.”

Neither Smith nor Carpenter would say what type of drug was found in the school bathroom.

“I don’t know for sure what it is,” Carpenter said.

The school incident comes as the region is grappling with a heroin epidemic, which has contributed to dozens of overdoses across the greater Brockton region in recent weeks. Seven people have died of suspected heroin overdoses in Brockton in a span of 17 days.

Brockton School Committee Vice Chairman Tom Minichiello on Monday called for “vigorous” anti-drug programs in the city, but also wouldn’t discuss the Arnone school incident, what type of drug was found, or whether a teacher or educator was linked to the drug.

“The city of Brockton and most communities now are having a drug epidemic and society needs to take this seriously,” Minichiello said. “If it’s working our way into a school that’s an elementary school, this is a wake up call for society.”

A Brockton High School cafeteria worker has been arrested twice – both times off school property – in the past month on drug charges

Maria Papadopoulos may be reached at mpapa@enterprisenews.com or follow on Twitter @MariaP_ENT.